Improved fumigator for smoking bees



G. W. HUGHES.

Insect-Destroyer.

No. 44,427. Patented Sept. 27, 1864.

Witness es,

AM PHOTO-LlTHO. C0. N. (DSBORNE'B PROCESS.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. HUGHES, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVED FUMIGATOR FOR. SMOKING BEES, 81,0.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4 1,427, dated September 27,1864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, GEORGE W. HUGHES, of Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Device for Smoking Bees and other similar purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear, full, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 2, a side elevation having a portion of the side broken away to show the interior.

The nature of my invention consists in a light metallic conical tube having a cap and mouth-piece to be used for forcing smoke among bees or directing it upon insects upon plants.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it. 7

A in Fig. 1 represents a conical tube, made of brass or other suitable material. This tube A is made thin and light, and is made small at one end, as shown, leaving a small orifice therein. From the point e the tube A is made slightly conical or tapering toward the larger or upper end, as shown in the drawings.

B represents a cap or cover, which is made of such a size and form as to cause it to fit snugly over and upon the upper end of A, as shown in Fig. 1. In the outer end of this cap B is fitted a wooden head, 0, which extends out some distance, and has its outer end turned down small, and is provided with a small knob, to enable it to be held firmly and easily in the mouth of the operator. Through this mouth-piece 0 an orifice, 1), extends longitudinally, opening into the interior of the instrument, the orifice increasing rapidly in size as it extends inward, as shown in Fig. 1. By

' making'the orifice of this peculiar form the entire body of smoke within the instrument is driven from the end next the mouth forward,

toward the point, whereas, if the orifice were all the way of a uniform size, a square shoulder would be left around the orifice at the inner end of block 0, in which case the current of air driven in through the orifice, instead of driving before it the whole body of smoke,

would be merely projected into the center of it, leaving a large portion of the smoke remaining in the corners surrounding the inner opening of the orifice.

A short distance from the point, on the inside of the tube A, is secured a diaphragm, a, composed of perforated metal. This plate a is held in place by means of the projecting points 1', which are bent at a right angle to the face of the plate, and thereby caused to press against the sides of tube A with suffieient'force to hold it in position, the points i at the same time preventing the plate a from being misplaced or turned edgewise in the tube A.

The operation is as follows: The cap B being removed, the tube A is filled, or partially so, with tobacco or any other suitable substance, which is then ignited, and when fairly lighted the cap B is replaced. The instrument is then seized between the teeth, leaving both hands of the operator at liberty to be used in handling the hives, bees, honey, or other articles, while the smoke can be ejected among the bees either in or out of the hive, as may be desired.

The perforated plate a prevents any of the material in the tube from choking up the ori fice, and can be readily removed at any time when necessary for the purpose of cleaning the instrument. 1

The stupefying or quieting effects of smoke upon bees and other insects has long been known and applied in various ways; but the want of a suitable instrument for its application, one that should be simple and cheap, and which at the same time should leave the hands of the operator free for other purposes, has to a great extent prevented its application. This want is supplied and this difficulty entirely removed by my invent-ion.

It is obvious that my instrument may also be very successfully used as a fumigator for destroying insects upon plants, it presenting the same advantages for this purpose that it does as a fumigator for bees, namely, that it leaves the hands free to handle the plants.

Having thus fully described my invention, its construction, and operation, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The fumigator A, provided with the perforated plate a, constructed and operating substantially as shown.

2. The cap B, provided with the perforated mouth-piece O, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The wooden mouthpiece 0 of a fumigator, having the orifice I), constructed in the form shown and described for the purpose set forth.

Witnesses W. 0. DODGE, R. D. 0. SMITH.

G. HUGHES. 

